Thursday, September 27, 2007

"US businesses have pledged to spend more than four billion dollars on environmental, educational and humanitarian projects a New York summit organized by former president Bill Clinton. By Thursday, the second day of a three-day summit, several firms had stepped forward with pledges at the Clinton Global Initiative on a variety of pressing issues ranging from refugee aid to education to climate change efforts." (AFP)

"Despite the $15,000 'membership,' participants who don't follow through on their commitments are barred from coming back the following year. Last year, 17 former attendees were not allowed back from the previous year, and this year the number dropped to five. As a Clinton press secretary put it, 'We're not the philanthropy police.' But they do want to impress upon people that the idea is not to schmooze, it's to work ... The roster of delegates, as you would expect, is impressive. This morning's opening session saw Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan; H. Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart; Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo -- whom Clinton introduced as a former classmate of his at Georgetown -- onstage with former Vice President and Oscar winner Al Gore and Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank. Thursday morning's plenary session will be led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair." (Forbes)

"Southeast Asian foreign ministers were to meet here Thursday under pressure to join the Security Council in urging Myanmar rulers to allow a visit by a UN envoy to defuse world anger over a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests.The 15-member council met in emergency session here Wednesday but failed to condemn the brutal repression in Yangon." (AFP)

"The ruling junta could continue to remain relatively quiet, allowing the monks to persist with their protests in the hope that the marches will peter out over the coming weeks, although there are signs that the government's patience is wearing thin (notably the police crackdown on protestors at Shwedagon Pagoda). Nevertheless, although the protests are likely to continue over the short term, possibly intensifying in the next few days, they are unlikely, at this stage, to seriously weaken the ruling junta's firm grip on power." (Janes Defense)

"Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev and Turkmenistan’s Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov did not make waves when their turn at the podium came at the 62nd United Nations General Assembly. The same cannot be said about Georgia’s Mikheil Saakashvili ... 'One has to wonder - what was a lieutenant colonel of the Russian military doing in the Georgian forests, organizing and leading a group of armed insurgents on a mission of terror?' Saakashvili continued. 'I want to ask our Russian friends - is there not enough territory in Russia? Are there not enough forests in Russia for Russian officers not to die in Georgian territory in Georgian forests?'" (Eurasianet)

"United States President George Bush lacks moral authority to judge other nations, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Wednesday, attacking the US leader as an arrogant liar. Perez Roque was responding to Bush's UN speech on Tuesday, when the US president called for 'free speech, free assembly and ultimately free and competitive elections' in Cuba. 'The long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing its end,' said Bush, referring to ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro." (IOL)